Insertion

    Part 13

    Diamonds are Forever.

+++++++++++

    "Jadeite?" muttered Ranma in shock as he simply stared down at the
countertop with a frown on his face.

    "It was those damn Senshi," said Nephrite angrily.

    "Beryl didn't revive him?" asked the boy as he stared at the trio
of dark generals for a moment.

    "Ha! She sealed him away, to ensure that we wouldn't," commented
Zocite with a frown of his own. "Once we get that crystal, she'll be
more apt to listen to our request though."

    "How?" asked Ranma as he glared at them angrily.

    "It was that despicable Sailor Moon, she hit him with
something..." muttered Kunzite.

    Ranma merely nodded and downed the remainder of his drink. "I'll
see you guys later."

    "Right, family calls," chuckled Kunzite.

    "No. I need to be alone for a while," said Ranma as he stepped out
of the bar and left them.

++++++++++++

    "You know, he wasn't that bad a guy. Well, for someone who was
trying to destroy the world and all," said Carrot wistfully.

    "Yeah," muttered Ranma in agreement.

    "Beryl is being stupid," commented Carrot as they walked through
the park they had found themselves in.

    "Howzat?" asked Dan.

    "She's just cut her forces down. Jadeite and his minions are not
available to her anymore," said Carrot with a small shrug. "It's a bad
tactical decision."

    "I woulda brought him back," muttered Ranma angrily. "Even if I
didn't like him. He was one of her soldiers, she can't do that to her
men."

    "Well, we aren't her. She's spiteful and evil, more so now that
she's working for Metallia," said Carrot with a small shrug. "There's
nothing we can do about it."

    "Yeah, let's just go home," muttered Carrot.

    "You're quiet tonight, Pissant. Not that I'm complaining or
anything," said Dan.

    There was a small sniffling, and they felt their body jerk forward
as it burst into tears. "WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! He's dead!
WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

    "Great," grumbled Dan irritably.

    "Calm down damn it!" cried Carrot.

    "I hope nobody is watching us," said Ranma nervously.

+++++++++++++

    "Huh?" muttered Ranma as he looked up at Genma and Soun. It was
early the next day, and he had a day off. It was Sunday, and Cologne
had decided to excuse him for the evening.

    "We've been hired on as security. There's a showing of some
valuable gem in some Museum. Soun knows one of the curators, and we've
got to protect this gem this evening for some kind of formal party,"
said Genma sagely.

    "How much am I getting paid?" said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes
at the man.

    "They're going to pay us ten thousand yen," said Genma with a
small nod.

    "No old man, how much am I going to get paid?" repeated Ranma.

    "Foolish boy! This is for the honor of your school!" snapped the
man angrily.

"In other words, you want me to take my day off, and do this for free,
so that you can keep all the money to yourself," said the boy with a
small frown.

    "Um, right," said Genma dumbly.

    "No thanks," said Ranma as he started to walk away.

    "What? Don't you walk away from me boy!" snapped the man angrily
as he tried to turn his son around by pulling on his shoulder.

    Ranma was immovable though, he did stop walking. "Look old man.
Why should we bother? You still get paid without us, all you have to
do is stand around, and we've got a job already, and we don't want to
take our time off and do something like this if we aren't getting paid
for it."

    "Look, I don't care about the other two of you, but Ranma has to
train. This is part of it," snapped Genma irritably.

    "Fine, then you pay us for our time," said the boy calmly.

    Genma frowned. "I'll give you a thousand yen."

    "Three, or you can go fuck yourself for all I care," said Ranma in
reply.

    Genma frowned at this, he was only going to get three if he took
Soun with him. The deal was for the three of them, at ten thousand. If
only two of them showed up, they'd only get three apiece. He and Soun
were going to split it at five apiece, now he'd only get three. That
wasn't acceptable. "Two."

    "Twenty five hundred," said the boy as he smirked at the old man.

    Genma scowled at him, and hung his head. "Fine."

    "What time?" asked Ranma cheerfully.

    "It starts at six," muttered Genma irritably.

++++++++++++

    Nabiki Tendo was pressing herself against the wall just around the
corner. Her hand covering her mouth as she tried her best not to say
anything. Her mind was working as she attempted to figure out what was
going on.

    Ranma haggling with her father hadn't surprised her, but something
else bothered her. The boy had called himself 'we'. Genma seemed to
know about it too. That sent alarm bells ringing inside her head the
instant it had left his mouth.

    "The question is, what can I do about this?" she muttered to
herself as she snuck away. There had to be a way to work it to her
advantage. Ranma was crazy, she knew that now for certain. She
couldn't do anything about it without some sort of proof, and he was
actually pretty good at hiding it despite the way he acted sometimes.

+++++++++++++++++

    It was about three hours later that the men stood around the
table. Genma and Soun were dressed in cheesy looking light blue
tuxedos. Ranma had not even bothered to wear the one they had given
him, and strolled out in a black suit and tie. His shades were stuck
in his pocket, and he grinned at them cheerfully. "Ready?"

    "Where did you get that boy?" snapped Genma.

    "Huh? I've got a job remember?" said the boy with a small shrug.
"I've got three of em." He brushed off one of the sleeves on his coat
and walked past the two morons calmly. "Hey, you coming or not?"

    Akane walked out of her room and stared down at him cheerfully.

    "Akane?" asked Soun dumbly.

    "What is it daddy?" said the girl as she looked at him. She was
wearing an outfit similar to Ranma's, but with a skirt and dark
pantyhose instead.

    "What is she doing boy?" snapped Genma.

    "Going with us," he replied with a small shrug.

    "We can't bring a girl along on something like..." Genma grabbed
the man by his tie, and pulled it off. "Tsk, a clip on? Really Pop."
He placed it back on and then grabbed his collar, pulling him down to
stare at him for a moment. "Akane is training too right?"

    "Well...I..."

    "That is why you wanted me along, right?" continued the boy.

    "Now, Saotome, this is far to dangerous for..."

    "Well, I suppose we could call and tell that guy that there's only
three of us now, and go back to getting only ten thousand yen for the
night, instead of twenty."

    Genma and Soun blinked and stared at him. "What?"

    "Mr. Tendo left the number out. So I called the guy, and asked if
he'd be willing to pay for an extra hand. He agreed, and we all get
checks cut for five thousand each."

    Genma looked at Soun for a moment, and then back to his son again.
"We'll probably just be standing around all night anyway Tendo."

    "Right, agreed Saotome," said the man as they ushered the children
along.

++++++++++++

    "Wow!" gasped Akane as she stared at the party in awe. There were
dozens of people ambling about, all of them dressed in extravagant
clothing. Tables with the food and champagne lined the back walls, and
at the center of the room was a display case in protective glass. It
was roped off, and a sparkling gem could be seen inside.

    Ranma moved up beside her, his face was completely straight and
his shades hid his eyes away. "We're security. Try to look
intimidating."

    She blinked and turned to look at him for a moment. "Right." She
put on her own shades and began to move smoothly through the crowd.

    "Follow me, I know what I'm doing," said Ranma coolly as he moved
towards the edge of the room.

    Akane moved after him and frowned. "And I don't?"

    "Have you ever done this sort of thing before?" he said as he
looked back at her with his eyebrow raised slightly.

    The girl blushed a bit and turned her head away. "Well, no..."

    "I have, several times. Trust me," said the boy as he nodded back
at her. After a moment, they were standing on a flight of stairs that
led to the upper level of the museum. They were roped off near the top
preventing partygoers from wandering off.

    Ranma smirked as he noticed a small group of men standing around
about halfway up.

    "The man who hired us will most likely be there," said Ranma as he
began to stroll up towards them.

    An older man in the group paused his conversation and looked at
the young pair for a moment. The two youngest members of the group,
who were standing off to the side silently, moved to intercept.

    Ranma and Akane paused, neither one of them flinching as the much
larger bodyguards stopped them. He removed his sunglasses, and she
followed his example as they noticed the old man approaching.

    "Can I help you?" asked the man as he walked up between his guards
and looked them over.

    "I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Akane Tendo. We're from the
Anything Goes School of Martial arts," said Ranma emotionlessly.

    "Ah, the extra security I hired," said the man as he waved the men
off to the side.

    "That's right, what sort of security do you have in place now? If
I can be permitted to know?" asked Ranma coldly.

    "You've done this sort of thing before," said the man with a small
smile growing on his face. "We have the standard security for
something this valuable of course, protective glass, silent alarm
system, infrared laser net. Naturally there are a few inactive systems
that protect it when the museum is closed, but you don't need to know
about those," said the man calmly.

    "Nor am I particularly interested," replied Ranma. "I want to know
what's active, and where I need to be."

    "Well, we have security cameras..." started the old man.

    "Six of them in plain sight, and probably at least two more hidden
somewhere," said the boy with a nod.

    "Very good Mr. Saotome," said the old man as he chuckled a little.
"Well, enjoy the party. A disturbance is unlikely, and we want you
more for show than anything else. Just hang around the diamond, and
keep people from getting too close."

    "Next time sir, I'd appreciate it if we were allowed early. Just
before you start letting guests in is good. It's better if we're seen
when they come in," said Ranma with a small nod.

    "And why is that?" asked the old man in amusement.

    "That way, they know we're security," said Ranma as he put his
shades back on and walked back into the crowd.

+++++++++++

    "Where are our parents?" asked Akane as she glanced around. They
were standing on either side of the display now, watching the crowd
around them.

    Occasionally, she or Ranma would have to move someone back a
little, or clear a small path so photos of the gem could be taken by
the press in attendance.

"Slacking off by the food, they should be drunk in a little while,"
commented Ranma as he turned his head over towards the pair and
frowned.

    "Those dolts," growled Akane.

    "Calm down and forget about them," said Ranma coldly.

    "How can I just let them get away with that?" she hissed.

    "Because right now, no one knows who they are. They're just two
drunken assholes who probably got invited by accident. We're the ones
representing your school in everyone's eyes right now."

    Akane blinked and looked at him for a moment.

    "Don't worry, we'll get the chance to get back at them shortly,"
said Ranma with a small smirk forming on his face.

    Akane nodded, and noticed that it was the first time she'd seen
him smile at all since they had arrived. It wasn't a nice one either.

+++++++++++++

    A half-hour later, Genma and Soun were thrown bodily from the
building. The two teens walked out, dusting off their hands and
staring at them angrily.

    "Boy! What do you think you're doing?" sputtered Genma.

    "Kicking you two out, like we were told too," said the boy calmly.
"Go home."

    "We were hired to protect..." started Soun angrily.

    "And you've been doing a shitty job too," replied Ranma calmly.
"Both of you are drunk."

    "We were just enjoying the party a little, there's no harm in..."
started Genma.

    "If you truly value the honor of the Anything Goes School, you
will leave right now," said Ranma coldly.

    "What?" said the pair in shock.

    "I won't repeat myself, go home," said Ranma as he took off his
sunglasses and stared them down.

    "Daddy, we'll take care of this," said Akane nervously.

    "Akane? How could you!" said the man in shock.

    "You're embarrassing us, and the school's name, go home," insisted
Ranma.

    Genma turned his head, and noticed the cab pulling up behind them.
"Let's go Tendo, we aren't wanted here."

    Ranma strolled down the steps, and paid the cab driver while Akane
returned to the inside of the building. He leaned his head in and
smiled at him. "Take them directly to the Tendo Dojo in Nerima." He
jot down the address on a pad of paper. "They don't have any money, so
don't take them anywhere else. No matter what they say."

    "Huh?" said the cab driver as he looked at the boy.

    Ranma winked at him, and showed him their wallets. "Just take em
home all right."

    "Right," said the cab driver with a smirk on his face.

++++++++++++

    Ranma walked back into the museum, and went back to his position.

    "This is boring," he commented.

    "Wow. You're pretty good at this, Dan," said Carrot.

    "I told you I was a cop. Doing things like this is a good way to
make a little extra money," he replied calmly.

    "Wow! This is such a great party," commented Pissant cheerfully.
"I wish we could talk to someone though."

    "You keep your trap shut, we aren't here to mingle," said Dan
irritably.

    "Uh oh," muttered Carrot suddenly as he turned their head.

    "What's up?" asked Dan with a small frown.

    "Damn. I shoulda known," grumbled Carrot. "Five o'clock. Blond,
white dress, meatball head."

    "Shit! I told you we should have left her at home," snorted Dan
angrily as he saw Usagi. She was looking rather lost in the crowd,
after a few moments of scanning the crowd, he saw the other senshi as
well. Including the one he didn't recognize. "Who the hell is that?"

    "I dunno, she's a senshi, but I've never seen her before," said
Carrot as they eyed her. Rei and Ami had both spotted them, but hadn't
done anything yet other than stare, and inform the others. "We've been
spotted."

    "I noticed," said Dan as he glanced towards Akane. She was
watching the crowd lazily.

    "Maybe they won't try anything? I mean, this is a pretty big
crowd..." muttered Pissant fearfully.

    "If we don't do anything, maybe," agreed Dan.

    "Hey. I see Tux boy," said Carrot as he glanced up at the rafters
and spotted Endimyon.

    "This isn't good," growled Ranma.

    "Keep cool, we might not have to do anything at all," said Dan.

    "I doubt it, I'm betting Nephrite will show in a minute. If they
think this thing might be the Silver Imperium Crystal..." muttered
Carrot irritably.

    "Maybe we can intercept?" asked Dan as he searched the crowd for a
sign of the general.

    "Maybe, we might be able to talk him out of this," said Ranma in
agreement.

    After a moment, they spotted him in the crowd. He was holding a
glass of champagne, and smirking as he watched the diamond.

+++++++++++

    "Akane, stay here. I'm gonna check something out," said Ranma as
he turned towards the girl.

    She turned her head, and watched helplessly as he moved into the
crowd. "But..."

    "Ah, Genaku," said Nephrite as he noticed his friend.

    "Turn away, act like you don't know me," said Ranma as he
approached.

    "Pardon?" said the general dumbly as he did so.

    "I know why you're here Nephrite. You might as well leave now,
that isn't the Silver Imperium Crystal."

    "So? I have to bring something back," snorted the man casually as
he eyed one of the women nearby casually.

    "I'm working security here Nephrite, I'll be most disappointed if
I have to stop you. You know how much I hate screwing up a job."

    "Humph, I'm afraid I can't allow that," said the man coldly.

    "Well, we've had this battle before Nephrite. Both of us know who
will win," said Ranma with a slight smirk on his face.

    "That may be, but if I go back to Beryl without even trying, she
will destroy me," said Nephrite calmly.

    "Fine, keep away from that girl beside the diamond, she's not
strong enough to hurt you anyway. We don't know each other, and I'll
try to make sure you get out of here alive."

    "Alive?" muttered the general as he turned his head slightly.

    "Don't look at me!" snapped Ranma. "The senshi are here too."

    "Well, it seems you're going to have your hands full," said
Nephrite calmly as he nodded.

    "Well, if you win, you can keep that damn rock. If I win, I'll
come out looking good to the man who's paying me, and if they win..."

    "The two of us will probably be dead," said Nephrite with a smirk
on his face.

    "Right," said Ranma as he walked away.

    "How interesting," said Nephrite as he moved away as well.

+++++++++++

    The old man turned towards Ranma and blinked. "Pardon?"

    "I said we may have a problem," said Ranma quietly.

    "What's going on?" asked the man as he suddenly forgot about his
conversation and gave him his full attention.

    "I spotted a man fitting the description of a jewel thief
operating around the area recently. I moved in to check him out, and
he was faking a conversation while watching the jewel."

    "You didn't apprehend him?" snorted the old man with a small
scoff.

    "I thought it best if we could handle this discreetly," said Ranma
as he turned towards the crowd. "Uniformed guards will likely be more
persuasive towards him giving up quietly."

    The old man nodded and turned to his bodyguard. "Radio the museum
security. Have them escort this man out of the building."

    Ranma turned away with a grin on his face. The security guards
would move Nephrite out of the crowd, and he would allow it before he
would attack them. That just left the Senshi, and if Nephrite didn't
attack, then they wouldn't have any reason to act either.

++++++++++++

    "Gentlemen, I assure you this is all a mistake," said Nephrite as
he  led them towards a quiet room in the museum. He stopped and raised
his hands into the air as he watched them circle around him.

    "Not likely, in any case, you aren't welcome here any longer,"
said Ranma as he strolled up behind the men.

    Nephrite smirked as he noticed the boy. "Very clever," he
commented to himself. He raised his hands and a dark crystal appeared
there. "I'll take your life force, thank you," he said as he held it
over his head.

    The guards began to fall over around him, there were about seven
of them, and their life energy seeped away and into the crystal. "A
masterful plan, getting me away from the crowd that way so you could
beat me more easily. In here, I can't drain all those guests. How did
you know I would go with these men?"

    "You never were one for a direct fight. You'd have sent a youma
out, that way you could distract the Senshi. Especially since you knew
they were in there. That way, you could steal the diamond quietly,
while they were busy with your monster, and escape."

    "Hmmm. That was my plan," said Nephrite with a small nod.

    "You led the guards into this room when you noticed they were
after you, that way, you could drain them without the senshi noticing,
and make sure that you could still use your original plan."

    "Unfortunately for you, it didn't work!" cried a new voice.

    "Shit," muttered Ranma as he turned and faced the doorway.

    "You who would steal the gems of our proud country! In order to
protect our heritage, I Sailor Moon shall defeat you! On behalf of the
moon, you are Punished!"

    The other senshi moved up behind her, and posed. After a moment, a
porthole opened in the wall and Tsuki stepped through and smirked.

    "You stay the hell out of this and let me do my job," snapped
Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at them.

    "So, you two were planning to steal that diamond and take it back
to your master were you?" said Tuxedo Mask as he appeared from another
doorway in the room.

    "I was hired as security actually," said Ranma with a small shrug.
"I really hate screwing up a job, and all of you are trespassing.
Leave now, or I'll make sure you regret it."

    Ami took a step back, and swallowed. "Um...Sailor Moon..."

    "We won't give up until you're defeated!" snapped Sailor Moon
angrily.

    "Well, it's time I left then," said Nephrite as he jumped into the
shadows and vanished.

    The sailor senshi began to encircle Ranma, closing in around him
carefully, and slowly.

    He looked around at them and frowned. "There are a lot of
expensive things in here that break easily. Are you sure you want to
fight now? After all, you're here to protect your heritage aren't
you?"

    Tsuki smirked at him. "Protecting our heritage is secondary to
protecting the future. You must be punished for what you did to Pluto-
sama. I, the Senshi of Pluto in training, shall make sure that you do
not win this time!" A long staff appeared in her hand, and began to
glow. "Attack him now!"

    Ranma tensed his body, and flew back as Jupiter landed a solid
blow. "What the?" he gasped painfully as he slammed into the wall.
"How the hell?"

    "What happened?" muttered Jupiter in shock. She hadn't expected to
be able to hit him with her first strike.

    "It's like he's slowed down!" gasped Sailor Moon.

    "No, it's like they've sped up," thought Ranma as he glared at
them and took up a defensive position.

    Venus rushed forward, slamming her fist into his jaw before he
could react, and sent him flying into a suit of armor. It collapsed on
top of him and he grunted in pain.

    "There's no way they're this fast!" thought the boy angrily as he
stood up again. "Something is up."

    "Not so tough this time?" said Venus as she glared at him angrily.

    "Hurry up and beat him!" snapped Tsuki. "We don't have a lot of
time!"

    Ranma paused and looked at the girl. She hadn't moved yet, she was
merely standing there, holding the staff out in front of her. "It's
her!" he gasped.

    Mamoru rushed forward as he started to tense his body up, kicking
at him in order to prevent him from attacking.

    "Kaio ken times two!" cried Ranma as he suddenly blasted forward.
The senshi could see him moving this time as he ran towards Tsuki, but
it was still far to fast for them to do anything about it. He landed a
hard right across the girl's jaw, and sent her sprawling across the
floor.

    "Thought you could beat me by slowing down time? Is that it?" he
snorted as he cracked his knuckles and turned to face the girls.

    "No way! No one is that fast!" cried Mercury as she looked at the
display on her computer screen. "It isn't possible!"

    "I've got a job to do here, so if you don't mind..." Ranma
vanished from in front of them, and reappeared at various points
around them, slamming blows into their bodies repeatedly. The senshi
could do nothing more than stand there and take it. One by one, they
fell to the ground in pain, none of them even had the time to perform
an attack to counter the assault.

    Finally, Tuxedo Mask was the last one standing, Sailor Moon was
still conscious, but she was lying on the ground and hadn't tried to
get up again.

    Ranma was standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his
chest. "You know what the difference between you and me is Endimyon?"

    The boy looked up at him and frowned. "What's that villain?"

    Ranma pulled on the lapel of Tuxedo Mask's coat and snorted. He
then put on his shades and smiled. "I make this look good." He turned
away and walked out of the room. He paused in the doorway and smirked
at them as they groaned painfully on the floor. "I'll be back in five
minutes, and you had better be gone." He continued on his way, leaving
them lying there.

+++++++++++++

    Akane frowned as she saw Ranma calmly walking up to her. He was
dusting off his sleeves, and his coat was slightly wrinkled now.
"Where have you been?"

    "Just getting rid of some uninvited guests. Nothing to worry
about," he replied calmly. "How is the party going?"

    "Just as boring as ever," she replied.

    "Good, that means we're doing our job," said the boy with a shrug.

++++++++++++

    "What? What do you mean no?" snapped Genma angrily as he stared at
Ranma.

    "No, as in I'm not giving you one red cent you lazy bastard?"
replied the boy with a small shrug. "You got kicked out of the party
for being drunk, shirked your duty, and embarrassed the school.
Therefore he insisted that you and Mr. Tendo not be paid."

    "He insisted?" muttered Soun in shock.

    "That's right, that guy asked us not to give you any of the
payment," said Akane with a small shrug.

    "But, he paid you twenty thousand each!" cried Genma.

    "Well, I stopped a disturbance that you two idiots wouldn't have
even noticed. I also did it without interrupting the party," replied
Ranma with a shrug.

    "I spent all night standing next to that damn rock! You two were
busy eating and getting drunk!" snapped Akane as she stared at the men
in frustration.

    "Well, we would have taken a shift if we had remained all
night..." lied Genma.

    "Well, you didn't. Your loss I suppose," said Ranma with a small
shrug. He stood up and walked up to his room. Leaving both parents
staring at him hatefully.

    "Damn that boy! I still don't know what he does with all that
money," thought Genma angrily. He'd searched high and low, and still
hadn't found the boy's stash.

+++++++++++

    Ranma smirked, and glanced back at the old man as he walked up the
stairs. "That idiot, he doesn't even realize that we opened a bank
account. I bet he's still going through our things looking for that
money," commented Carrot cheerfully.

    "Oh my, stealing is wrong. Maybe we should have a talk with him?"
said Pissant.

    "Naw, let him suffer," snorted Dan. "Are we taking that job next
week?"

    "Sure, I could get to like this kind of work," said Carrot
cheerfully. "Akane was invited back as well. They're showing some sort
of mask on loan from the Americans."

    "Maybe we should talk with Nabiki? Set up some sort of business?"
asked Dan with a smirk.

    "Why bother with her?" replied Carrot. "With this kind of money
coming in, we can quit the Cat Cafe. That would free up a lot more
time for other things."

    "I guess so," agreed Ranma.

    "Come on, let's get some sleep," said Carrot.

++++++++++++

    TBC...


    Next Time: A normal day in the life of Ranma Saotome.

C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com

Previous parts can be found at Http://www.fanfiction.net and R&C Books
International Fanfic Company at Http://www.rcbooks.org

Ja!
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